Since I didn’t grow up celebrating Thanksgiving, I’m still attempting to understand the holiday and make it mine in some way. The best way I have found so far is by taking the traditional ingredients and dishes of the holiday and giving them my own French twist.

That translated into a sweet potato gratin dauphinois one year, or a pumpkin crème brûlée dessert for example. This year, I didn’t do much of the cooking but I was in charge of cocktails and drinks. I came across Leopold Bros’ New England Cranberry Liqueur just in time for Thanksgiving, during a tasting at Bell Wine and Spirit I stumbled upon.

In France, we typically start a holiday or celebratory meal with an apéritif like champagne or light white wine. As soon as I tried the bright crimson, sweet Cranberry liqueur, I knew it would make the perfect apéritif, mixed with a dry bubbly.

I was right! The simple Cranberry kir royal is not only easy to make but it’s also perfect to serve as a festive cocktail throughout the holiday season. Simply mix 1 to 2 oz of Leopold Bros New England Cranberry Liqueur (available in half or full bottles in our area at West Dupont Circle Wines & Liqueur, Bell Wine and Spirits, Modern Liquors they can order it for you in case they don’t actually have it in store) with 3 to 4 oz of brut/cava/prosecco or any other chilled sparkling wine.

And voilà, you have a bright sparkling cocktail to toast the holidays! You can also garnish it with some frozen whole cranberries or use white wine instead of sparkling wine to make it a regular cranberry kir. Or you can just drizzle some on vanilla-pecan ice cream. Cheers!

From Alejandra Owens. You can find her at her food blog, One Bite At A Time. Alejandra also writes for City Eats DC, a Food Network site, where you can book dinner reservations. Email her at [email protected] and follow her on Twitter at @frijolita.

For the cynics among us, New Year’s Eve is just another night — a night with unreasonably high expectations for merriment and finding someone at the bar to smooch with. Yet, for the hopeful, it’s about new beginnings, good times with friends and making memories. No matter which side of the coin you fall on, we can all agree on one thing: New Year’s Eve is all about the booze.

I mean, really people, those memories aren’t just going to make themselves, now are they!?

For starters, make sure you’re all set up and ready. The Bon Appetit Cocktail Party Manual has all the golden rules for throwing a boozey party — and more. Don’t forget food, Stephanie has you covered with tons of easy recipes to make, and, in some cases, make-ahead treats that you can serve. But now, on to the reason we’re all here.

Be Safe: If you are out and about for the evening, please drink responsibly and remember, you can get free taxi rides (details here) or sign up for Uber, a car service that will basically make you look like a baller to all your friends and get you home safely. Whatever you do, please don’t drink and drive Borderstanis!

Punch Cocktails

New Year’s Eve is a great time to try new and different cocktails. (Alejandra Owens)

Punch cocktails are the original big batch party drinks. You may poo-poo these at first glance, but don’t let rings of lemon slices frozen in water fool you.

These drinks pack a… no, I won’t say it. It’s just too cheesy. I like the idea of these drinks because (1) you don’t have to fiddle with recipes to make them for a crowd, and (2) they’re a nice way to ease everyone into a festive spirit.

Boozey, but not too much, so it’s not going to get anyone hammered in the first hour. This is a marathon, not a sprint, after all.

Wine

For the oenophiles among us, having a well-stocked wine counter, one featuring sangrias or mulled options even, is good for friends and family who don’t do hard liquor. Not everyone can love bourbon as much as I do, and I can respect that.

We’ve got two great wine rec posts if you want to support retailers in the neighborhood.

Cocktails

There’s no reason you can’t turn your favorite cocktail for one into a pitcher for 10. Just carefully convert the recipe to suit a larger crowd and provide the appropriate cooling option — ice cubes and a shaker for a shaken/stirred cocktail — at the table.

Also, if you like, you can always print out simpler cocktail recipes and leave them on a table with all the appropriate measures, liquors, mixers, bitters and garnishes. That way everyone can make the drink to their liking and get in on the mixologist fun. (Cause don’t we all have that one friend who used to bartend in college…)

City Eats DC runs a weekly column called Bottom’s Up featuring the city’s best cocktails.

Champagne

Oh! And how could I forget? Don’t forget the champagne! Bubbly and kisses. That’s what New Year’s Eve does! Julian Mayor, the sommelier at Bourbon Steak DC in the Four Seasons, contributed to this really lovely list of boutique champagnes. I have Julian to thank for a serious love for Pierre Peters — a champagne you should still be able to get at Cork & Fork on 14th Street. Many others on this list are easy to find as well — just give your liquor/wine store a ring and undoubtedly they’ll have an option for you.